On Memorial Day, people place flowers and flags on the graves of military personnel. Many organizations take part in military parades and special programs. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is often read. Memorials are dedicated on this day. Since the end of World War I, Memorial Day has also been Poppy Day. Volunteers sell small, red artificial poppies as a fund-raiser for disabled veterans. In recent years, the custom has grown in most families to include decorating the graves of loved ones on Memorial Day. 

Memorial Day Activities:

# Visit cemeteries and place flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes. 
Visit memorials. 
# Fly the US Flag at half-staff until noon. 
# Fly the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act). 
# Participate in a "National Moment of Remembrance".
# Renew a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans. 

Several communities claim to have originated Memorial Day. In 1966, however, the U.S. government proclaimed Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of the holiday. The people of Waterloo first observed Memorial Day on May 5, 1866, to honor soldiers killed in the Civil War. Businesses were closed and people decorated soldiers' graves; flags were flown at half-mast. 

Major General John A. Logan in 1868 named May 30th as a special day for honoring the graves of Union soldiers. He served as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War. It was called Decoration Day because the general had seen women decorating the graves of Civil War heroes. His organization had charge of Memorial Day celebrations in the northern states for many years. The American Legion took over this duty after World War I.